Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that the National Assembly lacks the temerity to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

According to Governor Wike, this is because it is part of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scheme to deny Nigerians a free, fair, and transparent election in 2023.

He believes that the best way for Nigerians to avoid repeating their mistakes of electing the APC-led Federal Government in 2015 and 2019 is to send them packing in 2023.

Governor Wike made the remarks on Monday during the flag-off of Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Etche Local Government Area by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.

The Rivers State governor recalled that when he expressed fears that President Buhari would not sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law, giving legal backing to electronic transmission of election results, most people did not believe him.

“Three weeks ago I told Nigerians that there is a conspiracy not to have a free, fair, transparent election in 2023 and that conspiracy was very clear. And I told Nigerians, Mr President will not sign the Electoral Act amendment bill,” he said.

Governor Wike remarked that knowing the APC’s modus operandi, manner, and strategy, it was evident to him and all discerning minds that the direct primary clause was placed into the Electoral Act amendment bill as a ruse to get the president to reject approval to the bill.

According to him, members of the APC are concerned that if results are communicated electronically, they will not be able to win the general elections in 2023.

“What APC resolved in the meeting they had was that their problem is not necessarily direct primaries, but the electronic transmission of result in 2023. If they allow that, obviously APC will lose the election in 2023 and they told themselves that the only way we can survive that is to include the direct primaries in the bill so that Mr President can use that as an excuse, that he will not sign the bill,” Wike said.

He accused APC governors and members of the National Assembly of misleading Nigerians by claiming to be in a war for supremacy over direct primaries when, in fact, they had secretly conspired to destroy the possibility of electronically delivering election results in 2023.

Governor Wike stated that the National Assembly does not have the necessary power to overturn the President’s rejection to sign the bill.

According to Wike, lawmakers are uninterested in safeguarding Nigerians’ interests and ensuring free and fair elections through electronic transmission of election results.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have a National Assembly that has what it takes, that will stand for the people, that will say look we were elected by the people and we want to give the people the best. Nobody in the National Assembly, not even the leadership can have what it takes to say Mr President for the interest of Nigerians we are going to veto this your refusal,” he said.

The governor claimed that because the APC does not prioritize Nigerians’ interests, its leaders are engulfed in a turmoil, vying for rewards that feed their egos.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is distinct, according to the Governor, since it is growing stronger as a legitimate political party and works to improve the socioeconomic conditions of people in PDP-controlled states every day.

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕?
𝑾𝒆’𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!